Ecuador’s basketball is one of the few sports that, so far, does not have a professional league. In the international concert, the basket of our country is located in position 128, among 164 nations. And in the South American ranking, the tricolor basketball placed in the ninth position, penultimate, only above Peru. In the first regional box is Argentina (seventh of the ranking world), followed by Brazil and Venezuela.
Peru does not register any participation because the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) suspended it a few years ago due to corruption and attempted manipulation by the National Sports Institute, which interfered in the elections to try to place managers by hand.
In Ecuador, basketball managers and supporters learned that for the third consecutive period there would be no National League. For this reason, they came together in September 2021 to form what is now called Liga BásquetPro. A directory was set up chaired by Jimmy Moya, former Guayas and Ecuador player, and the start of the first edition of his tournament is scheduled for June 21. Nine teams from various cities are registered and have foreign reinforcements. On March 10, the official presentation of the contest was held with the presence of personalities and officials from the Ministry of Sport. There was a recognition of Raúl Cárdenas, one of the best national basketball players of recent times. He played at a high level in leagues in the United States, Italy, Germany and France.
Basketball in Ecuador, cornered by the coronavirus, a limited leadership and a poor product
One of the most conflictive and hard tasks of any championship is the arbitration and the control of the matches. The BásquetPro League appointed Roberto Carrión as directors of the technical commission and Flavio Zavala for the arbitration. For several weeks they have held workshops, clinics and talks with instructors from Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and Costa Rica, in which they updated and reinforced knowledge, and also unified criteria. As a result, the qualification of fifteen Ecuadorian judges and three Venezuelans remained.
Among the objectives of the nascent basketball entity are “manage resources that must be managed correctly”, and its main task is “to organize (in the country) a competition that lasts several months, so that athletes become professional and develop activities that allows them to grow and obtain greater performance in their international performances”.
Conflict with FEB
But when it was thought that everything was going well, and the start of the competition is eagerly awaited, which was expected to have the support of all those who move around this discipline, the announcement of the Ecuadorian Federation of Basketball, which also set up and organized its National League, which will begin on June 10, also with nine teams. But in addition, the FEB issued a statement that in its core says: “They inform clubs, leaders, athletes, agents, referees, control desk personnel, statistics, sponsors, and the entire sports community in the country that in the face of the proliferation of tournaments that do not have the endorsement and recognition of our entity, everyone is urged to follow the regular path to avoid possible sanctions.”
It is not bad that there are two high-level tournaments, and it would be good if they were held on different dates. But it is preferable that they be strategic partners and not adversaries because they are supposed to seek the same goals. The ideal would be to work together, share tasks and share expenses. There was a meeting between the Ministry of Sport and the parties with the intention of seeking points of agreement. It was a failure. They sent delegates and the highest representatives of the sectors in conflict were not present. They showed little interest in a deal.
It is urgent that this conflict be resolved. That the Professional League and the FEB look for points in common, fight for better days for our basketball, to organize tournaments with the largest number of clubs, that the public return to the coliseums and that the technical level of those who practice it be raised. (EITHER)
We would like to say thanks to the author of this post for this outstanding content
Ecuador’s basketball, again in conflict; Federation does not recognize parallel professional tournament | Columnists | Sports